Intelligence, Relationships, and Access The Layers of Doing Business in Korea BCW Special Edition • Saturday, May 9, 2026
BCW Special Edition • Saturday, May 9, 2026
Doing business in Korea sits on three layers: regulatory, cultural, and relational. The last two are where deals actually move, stall, or die.
The Regulatory Layer
The Foreign Investment Promotion Act (FIPA) governs foreign investment into Korea. It is the visible layer: statutes, filings, and approvals.
The Cultural Layer
Relationship precedes transaction. Korean parties expect to know you and your intermediary before substantive deal conversations. A proposal lands differently when introduced by a trusted intermediary, by an order of magnitude.
Hierarchy matters. Who signs and who attends meetings signals seriousness. Sending a junior to meet a chaebol CEO is read as disinterest, even if that junior holds full authority on paper.
Pace is non-linear. Long silences are followed by sudden action. Western business often reads silence as rejection; in Korea, it usually means internal consensus-building is underway.
BCW’s Role
Our role is not just transactional. Sourcing the target is roughly ten to twenty percent of the value. The other eighty percent is intelligence, relationships, and access, the parts that often do not show up in a deal memo.
Tying fees to closing a single transaction misprices our work. The ongoing layer, reading the room, knowing who to call, knowing when to wait, is what makes the deal possible.
Bridging Culture Worldwide •